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Jaha's Promise

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When Jaha Dukureh was a baby she was subjected to female genital mutilation; when she was 15 she was taken to New York to marry a 45 year-old man she’d never met before. A decade later, Jaha has returned to her native Gambia in west Africa demanding that her own family and society end the practices that almost ruined her life. Full of the raw drama of personal, family, religious and political conflict, "Jaha's Promise" is an extraordinary narrative of individual and social change.

This film constructs Jaha's life story from her own vivid testimony, family archives and witnesses, and centers on her life’s see-saw narrative of setback and success.

Jaha exists in two worlds, Africa and the United States, though neither are places in which she feels she completely belongs. It is also a documentary that focuses on the trials that women like her endure from an early age. As Jaha says, “In our culture a woman is built on sacrifices.”

Female genital mutilation is to most people both distasteful and repellent. The women subjected to it are marginal to our society and cultural norms. We view them as hapless victims of a brutal, backward, and ultimately inexplicable practice.

Instinctively we avert our eyes from them and the cruelties they suffer. But Jaha is not a victim and she doesn’t want our sympathy. She wants to hold power structures accountable both in the West and in Africa: she demands respect for the rights of girls no matter what society they live in. Jaha’s Promise captures her story and her spirit.

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Main credits

Farrelly, Patrick (film director)
Farrelly, Patrick (film producer)
O'Callaghan, Kate (film director)
O'Callaghan, Kate (film producer)
Dukureh, Jaha (on-screen participant)

Other credits

Cinematography, Kate McCullough; editing, Sinead Kinnane; music, Michael Fleming.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

First Hand Films,Documentary,Film,USA,UK,Gambia,Jaha's Promise,Patrick Farrelly,Kate O'Callaghan,Maggie O'Kane,2017,The Guardian,Women,FGM,Black Women,Forced Marriage,Women's Rights,Social Change,Jaha Dukureh,Feminist,Woman,Africa,UN,Obama; "Jaha's Promise"; First Hand Films

00:00:17.999 --> 00:00:18.417
(birds chirping)

00:00:22.459 --> 00:00:23.042
- Khadija, Khadija!

00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:29.999
(child laughs)

00:00:42.209 --> 00:00:43.667 position:20%
I didn't know I was mutilated
as a baby until I was 15.

00:00:47.999 --> 00:00:49.125
My clitoris was cut off
when I was a week old,

00:00:50.083 --> 00:00:51.083
and this is something
that happens

00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:52.667
to nearly all the
girls in The Gambia.

00:00:55.959 --> 00:00:56.999
It's called female
genital mutilation.

00:01:03.959 --> 00:01:04.999
When I was 15, I was
brought to America

00:01:06.417 --> 00:01:07.000
to marry an older man.

00:01:08.584 --> 00:01:09.792
When he tried to
have sex with me,

00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:11.459
that's when I realized what
female genital mutilation was,

00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:17.667
and that's when
my horror started.

00:01:19.542 --> 00:01:20.167
♪ La, la, la, la ♪

00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:23.417
♪ La, la ♪

00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:24.999
♪ La, la, la ♪

00:01:25.999 --> 00:01:26.626
♪ Oh, Da da do all day ♪

00:01:29.417 --> 00:01:30.584
- When Khadija was
born, I knew that

00:01:32.167 --> 00:01:33.292
I could never let
this happen to her.

00:01:37.792 --> 00:01:38.918
I knew that I had to do
something to stop it.

00:01:41.542 --> 00:01:42.000
(dramatic music)

00:02:06.209 --> 00:02:06.876
(intense music)

00:02:12.042 --> 00:02:13.209
Most of the girls
and women you see

00:02:14.834 --> 00:02:15.584
on the streets have been cut.

00:02:21.417 --> 00:02:22.584
Their clitoris was
cut off, or worse.

00:02:27.083 --> 00:02:28.209
This has been going on
for thousands of years.

00:02:33.876 --> 00:02:35.083 position:20%
I've come home to try and
do something to end it.

00:02:39.584 --> 00:02:40.709
Even if that means
taking on my family,

00:02:42.209 --> 00:02:43.334
my tribe, and the
whole of Gambia.

00:02:52.999 --> 00:02:53.834
So what do you guys think about

00:02:53.999 --> 00:02:54.999
when it comes to
the issue of FGM?

00:02:55.959 --> 00:02:56.751
- That we should not stop it.

00:02:57.584 --> 00:02:58.209
- (Jaha) You don't think

00:02:58.375 --> 00:02:59.417
we should stop FGM?
- No please,

00:02:59.584 --> 00:03:00.167
we shouldn't stop it.

00:03:00.667 --> 00:03:01.834
- Do you want your wife
to not have any desire?

00:03:02.459 --> 00:03:03.876 position:20%
Or you want her to fully
enjoy what you're enjoying?

00:03:05.584 --> 00:03:06.626
- It's a conversation
normally came in

00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:08.626
to stop that too much of
feeling they might is having.

00:03:13.626 --> 00:03:14.876
- It's natural, God gave
it to her, why stop it?

00:03:15.334 --> 00:03:16.500
I don't need to cut my
daughter's body parts

00:03:17.999 --> 00:03:18.834
to make her, you
know, stay calm,

00:03:20.209 --> 00:03:20.999
to make her stay a virgin, no.

00:03:22.334 --> 00:03:23.667
You need to protect your
daughters, don't mutilate them.

00:03:27.209 --> 00:03:27.999
It's not helping them.

00:03:28.417 --> 00:03:29.167 position:20%
Like, I've been through it.

00:03:29.626 --> 00:03:30.209
It didn't help me.

00:03:37.250 --> 00:03:37.918
(upbeat music)

00:03:51.125 --> 00:03:51.999
This is the house I grew up in.

00:03:53.999 --> 00:03:55.042
We lived in one
apartment with my mom,

00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:57.500 position:20%
and then my stepmom lived
in the other apartment.

00:03:59.292 --> 00:04:00.334
My family in The Gambia
we are Serahules.

00:04:02.876 --> 00:04:03.626 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:04:05.542 --> 00:04:06.667
When I was growing up,
my dad had three wives,

00:04:09.042 --> 00:04:09.999 position:20%
and he has a lot of kids.

00:04:13.751 --> 00:04:14.918
You know, the number
of siblings I have,

00:04:15.334 --> 00:04:16.083 position:20%
I think at least 30 of us.

00:04:16.250 --> 00:04:17.334
Okay, the youngest ones,
I really can't name.

00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:23.999
Have to call them and
be like, who's your mom.

00:04:25.584 --> 00:04:26.000
So it's like,

00:04:26.167 --> 00:04:27.000
I mean, I have a
lot of siblings.

00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:32.667
This is where the
mosque begins at.

00:04:35.626 --> 00:04:36.751
My father is an imam,
and he built the mosque

00:04:38.999 --> 00:04:39.792
behind our family home.

00:04:42.042 --> 00:04:43.209
He boasts when it
comes to his kids,

00:04:44.792 --> 00:04:45.542 position:20%
especially his daughters.

00:04:47.167 --> 00:04:47.999 position:20%
None of them dishonored him

00:04:48.999 --> 00:04:49.999
by getting pregnant
before marriage.

00:04:51.542 --> 00:04:52.292 position:20%
All of them were virgins.

00:04:55.876 --> 00:04:57.042
The fact that my dad had
other wives, and other kids,

00:04:59.000 --> 00:04:59.999
I hated it more than my mom did.

00:05:03.125 --> 00:05:04.292
You know, as a child,
you were jealous,

00:05:04.834 --> 00:05:05.959
'cause you wanted
to be the only ones.

00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:08.626
And every time he was
away, you felt like

00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:11.250
they were taking time from you,

00:05:11.999 --> 00:05:12.999
and they were taking
time from your mom.

00:05:14.250 --> 00:05:15.000 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:05:16.626 --> 00:05:17.751
So you'd just look
at her and know

00:05:17.918 --> 00:05:19.042 position:20%
that she didn't feel
happy sharing her husband.

00:05:23.751 --> 00:05:24.500
(singing in foreign language)

00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:30.250
it was very much a
Serahule tradition that

00:05:32.167 --> 00:05:32.999 position:20%
women didn't get educated.

00:05:35.834 --> 00:05:36.584 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:05:41.167 --> 00:05:42.334
Me and my sister, we
were the first girls

00:05:43.250 --> 00:05:44.417
in our family to be
enrolled in school.

00:05:49.375 --> 00:05:50.542
My mom felt like it
was very important,

00:05:51.667 --> 00:05:52.792
even though my dad
was against it.

00:05:56.083 --> 00:05:56.918
She was very strict,

00:05:57.500 --> 00:05:58.250
but with me she was lenient.

00:06:00.334 --> 00:06:01.459
And when I come home
and say, I would never

00:06:01.999 --> 00:06:03.042
marry a guy that
has another wife,

00:06:03.834 --> 00:06:04.999
I would never let
my husband hit me,

00:06:06.375 --> 00:06:07.125
she just used to sit and laugh.

00:06:09.667 --> 00:06:10.417 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:06:13.083 --> 00:06:14.500 position:20%
When I was eight years old,
my marriage was arranged

00:06:16.918 --> 00:06:17.667
to a guy that lived in New York.

00:06:20.542 --> 00:06:21.125
My bride price was paid.

00:06:23.751 --> 00:06:24.918
I wasn't eligible
to live with him,

00:06:25.209 --> 00:06:26.334
because I was still
very, very young.

00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:29.292
When I hit puberty,
that was when

00:06:30.999 --> 00:06:31.999
I was going to be
eligible to get married.

00:06:35.250 --> 00:06:36.375 line:20%
As Serahule girl, it's
not abnormal for us

00:06:37.751 --> 00:06:39.000 line:20%
to have our marriages arranged
when we are very, very young.

00:06:42.125 --> 00:06:43.667
If you are actually over 18,
and you don't have a husband,

00:06:46.542 --> 00:06:47.959
people think that you're
expired in some kind of way,

00:06:49.626 --> 00:06:50.209
so that's a problem.

00:06:56.250 --> 00:06:57.334
When I was about
13, my mom found out

00:06:58.999 --> 00:06:59.918 position:20%
that she had breast cancer.

00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:03.999
I remember being in
a hospital with her

00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.417 position:20%
when the doctors told her that
she only had a few months.

00:07:09.417 --> 00:07:10.876
She looked at me and said,
"Don't listen, they're not God.

00:07:12.999 --> 00:07:13.959
"That's not going to happen.

00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:14.999
"They're lying."

00:07:16.792 --> 00:07:17.999 position:20%
It was hard to let go,
'cause we were very close.

00:07:20.751 --> 00:07:21.167
(somber music)

00:07:39.626 --> 00:07:40.751
Gambissara's the most
conservative, hard line,

00:07:41.999 --> 00:07:43.334 position:20%
and hostile place that you
can go and talk about FGM.

00:07:45.999 --> 00:07:47.000
It is a village that
has 100% of women cut.

00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:52.250
It's where my family is from.

00:07:57.334 --> 00:07:57.999
This is Gambissara.

00:08:00.209 --> 00:08:00.999
When I was young, I would spend

00:08:01.417 --> 00:08:02.542
the whole Summer there
and going to the farms.

00:08:04.250 --> 00:08:05.000 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:08:14.083 --> 00:08:15.500
And I haven't been back
since my mother passed away.

00:08:32.375 --> 00:08:33.125 position:20%
The whole village came out.

00:08:34.417 --> 00:08:35.584
It blew me away, 'cause
I wasn't expecting that,

00:08:38.375 --> 00:08:39.459
and knowing that I came
here to discuss FGM.

00:08:44.167 --> 00:08:44.999 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:53.999
(singing in foreign language)

00:09:09.999 --> 00:09:10.999
- [Crew Member]
Jaha, are you okay?

00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:12.999
- This is my mom's home.

00:09:16.334 --> 00:09:17.500
That was the last place
that I saw my mom alive.

00:09:21.709 --> 00:09:22.834
The last place that
I heard her laugh.

00:09:25.959 --> 00:09:26.709 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:10:57.167 --> 00:10:58.292
This was the first
time there was

00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:00.000
ever an open debate about FGM,

00:11:00.999 --> 00:11:02.000
and it was really,
really amazing.

00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:04.999 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:12:02.375 --> 00:12:03.792 position:20%
For women like her, they have
never seen an uncut woman.

00:12:06.459 --> 00:12:07.209
They don't know any other way.

00:12:08.918 --> 00:12:09.667 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:12:19.999 --> 00:12:20.834
The lack of basic health care

00:12:21.542 --> 00:12:22.667
is a huge contributor
to the issue of FGM.

00:12:25.999 --> 00:12:27.334 position:20%
You know, Gambissara doesn't
even have a good hospital.

00:12:29.334 --> 00:12:30.083 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:12:48.999 --> 00:12:50.083
We live in a society
wherein women are made

00:12:51.083 --> 00:12:52.626
to believe that, you know, you
have to bow down to your man.

00:12:55.999 --> 00:12:56.999
Men tell women, we
want our daughters cut,

00:12:59.083 --> 00:12:59.918
and they cut them.

00:13:05.999 --> 00:13:07.292 position:20%
My aunt, my sisters told me
that this is how we lived.

00:13:12.042 --> 00:13:12.999
I should have never been taught

00:13:13.125 --> 00:13:13.999
to accept those kind of things.

00:13:15.999 --> 00:13:16.584
(somber music)

00:13:30.375 --> 00:13:31.751 position:20%
When I was 15, I was brought
to America by my dad,

00:13:33.042 --> 00:13:34.500 position:20%
to get married to the guy
that I was promised to.

00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:39.083
He was in his forties.

00:13:54.999 --> 00:13:55.999
I arrive in New York
on Christmas Day.

00:13:58.334 --> 00:13:59.500
My husband was at the
airport to pick me up.

00:14:03.209 --> 00:14:04.375
He wanted to touch
me, and hug me and

00:14:05.667 --> 00:14:06.999 position:20%
I didn't want him touching
me, and I kept hitting him.

00:14:12.959 --> 00:14:13.999
Soon as I get to my
aunt and uncle's house,

00:14:14.999 --> 00:14:16.292
there was people, there was
cooking, there was everything.

00:14:18.876 --> 00:14:19.626
And I knew that that was it.

00:14:24.417 --> 00:14:25.876 position:20%
The night of the marriage,
they had an older woman,

00:14:27.999 --> 00:14:28.834 position:20%
kind of like a sex advisor,

00:14:29.334 --> 00:14:30.459
that would tell you
about what to do.

00:14:31.876 --> 00:14:33.083
You know, this is the position
to make it more comfortable,

00:14:36.083 --> 00:14:37.083
or this is the products
that you can use

00:14:38.999 --> 00:14:39.792 position:20%
to kind of lessen the pain.

00:14:45.918 --> 00:14:46.667
This woman actually bathes you.

00:14:49.999 --> 00:14:51.042
She rubbed perfume,
lotion all over me.

00:14:58.999 --> 00:14:59.751
And they dressed me.

00:15:01.334 --> 00:15:02.542
They made me wear
white lingerie.

00:15:04.918 --> 00:15:05.999
They made me wear
these waist beads.

00:15:11.999 --> 00:15:13.209 position:20%
I told my dad that I
didn't want to get married.

00:15:17.334 --> 00:15:18.417
I begged, I pleaded,
I did everything

00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:21.626
to just ask him not to
make me go through this.

00:15:33.959 --> 00:15:34.709 position:20%
They took me to his house.

00:15:35.999 --> 00:15:37.167
When I got there, they
took me inside the room.

00:15:41.334 --> 00:15:41.999
They have this tradition

00:15:42.083 --> 00:15:43.167
of making you kneel
to your husband.

00:15:48.125 --> 00:15:49.209
Then they left me there
by myself with him.

00:15:53.999 --> 00:15:54.667
I cried the whole time.

00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:57.584
I cried for my
mom, and felt like

00:15:58.459 --> 00:15:59.918 position:20%
she could have been here,
she would have saved me.

00:16:14.709 --> 00:16:15.876
I was having pain, and
difficulties with sex.

00:16:18.999 --> 00:16:19.999
And he couldn't
really penetrate me.

00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:25.999 position:20%
After days of trying to have
sex, and not being able to,

00:16:29.709 --> 00:16:30.834
they said, maybe
she's infibulated.

00:16:33.999 --> 00:16:35.375
In my tribe, we are mutilated
when we are about a week old.

00:16:40.042 --> 00:16:41.167
The clitoris is cut,
as well as the labia,

00:16:44.542 --> 00:16:45.999 position:20%
and the vagina is sealed,
leaving only a tiny hole.

00:16:53.250 --> 00:16:54.709 position:20%
When you're infibulated,
you can't really have sex

00:16:55.999 --> 00:16:56.792 position:20%
until you're cut back open.

00:17:11.999 --> 00:17:13.042
That's when they
decided to take me

00:17:13.209 --> 00:17:14.667 position:20%
to a doctor in downtown
Manhattan to be reopened.

00:17:19.626 --> 00:17:20.999 position:20%
I don't know what he used,
but it was like a gel,

00:17:22.999 --> 00:17:23.918
and then he did what he did.

00:17:24.999 --> 00:17:25.542
It was painful.

00:17:26.999 --> 00:17:28.083
And this doctor told
me I had to have sex

00:17:29.584 --> 00:17:30.667
right away in order
to keep it open.

00:17:33.834 --> 00:17:34.834
That's when I
realized what it meant

00:17:35.626 --> 00:17:36.751
to be infibulated, and
what FGM actually means.

00:17:40.500 --> 00:17:41.667
It's just something that
women never talk about.

00:17:42.999 --> 00:17:44.167 position:20%
You know, they never talked
to me about the pain.

00:17:46.709 --> 00:17:48.000 position:20%
They don't tell you that sex
is going to hurt forever.

00:17:49.667 --> 00:17:50.918 position:20%
This is not a
conversation that we have.

00:17:54.667 --> 00:17:55.417 position:20%
We have a cultural silence.

00:18:23.209 --> 00:18:24.626 position:20%
You know, FGM is a practice
that you can't reverse.

00:18:26.999 --> 00:18:28.000
Once a girl has gone
through, is a practice

00:18:28.999 --> 00:18:30.083
that they live with for
the rest of their lives.

00:18:31.209 --> 00:18:32.667 position:20%
But when I got married,
because I was infibulated,

00:18:33.999 --> 00:18:34.918
if you know what
infibulation is,

00:18:35.334 --> 00:18:36.834 position:20%
literally, you can't have
sex until they reopen you.

00:18:38.834 --> 00:18:39.959
And when you're also
delivering your baby,

00:18:40.999 --> 00:18:42.292 position:20%
I have three kids, but each
time I deliver my babies,

00:18:44.375 --> 00:18:45.459
they literally have
to cut me open.

00:18:46.999 --> 00:18:47.999
And that's because
I've bene through FGM.

00:18:50.209 --> 00:18:51.667 position:20%
- Is it really true that it
will reduce sexual desire?

00:18:54.334 --> 00:18:55.751
- The clitoris of a woman is
sensual part of a woman's body.

00:18:58.167 --> 00:18:59.626
That's how you feel, that's
what makes you gain pleasure.

00:19:01.375 --> 00:19:02.834 position:20%
When that clitoris is cut off,
you don't get that feeling.

00:19:04.999 --> 00:19:06.000
Every time your husband
is having sex with you,

00:19:06.999 --> 00:19:08.417 position:20%
when he's enjoying it, you
are laying there in pain,

00:19:10.626 --> 00:19:11.375
and that's not fair to women.

00:19:12.918 --> 00:19:13.500
- Isn't it sunna?

00:19:16.999 --> 00:19:17.751 position:20%
- [Jaha] FGM is not sunna.

00:19:17.918 --> 00:19:18.999
- But I have lived where
it is that FGM is sunna.

00:19:20.751 --> 00:19:21.999 position:20%
- The Prophet does not condone
violence against women,

00:19:23.167 --> 00:19:24.250
and FGM is actually
violence against women.

00:19:26.459 --> 00:19:26.999
- Thank you.

00:19:28.792 --> 00:19:29.209
(pensive music)

00:19:51.999 --> 00:19:53.000
- After she got
married, we would call

00:19:53.999 --> 00:19:54.584
each other all the time.

00:19:55.999 --> 00:19:56.999
While she was there,
it was constant crying.

00:19:59.542 --> 00:20:00.626
She was 15, and she was
expect to be a wife.

00:20:03.709 --> 00:20:04.876
The guy would threaten
her with violence.

00:20:07.083 --> 00:20:07.999 position:20%
It was just awful for her.

00:20:14.292 --> 00:20:15.626
- Being forced into a
marriage is one of the hardest

00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:19.584
things that you can
ever go through,

00:20:20.209 --> 00:20:20.999
because to me, it's like rape.

00:20:23.999 --> 00:20:25.042
You just can't tell
me anything else.

00:20:25.209 --> 00:20:26.292
When you force the
girl into a marriage,

00:20:27.959 --> 00:20:28.709
you've given someone the right

00:20:31.334 --> 00:20:32.083
to rape here every single day.

00:20:38.999 --> 00:20:40.125
No one in my family
would listen to me.

00:20:41.834 --> 00:20:42.626 position:20%
They thought it was normal.

00:20:42.999 --> 00:20:43.999
And then someone that
knew my situation

00:20:45.999 --> 00:20:47.000
called this woman
who was leading

00:20:47.999 --> 00:20:49.375 position:20%
the international human rights
organization, Equality Now.

00:20:54.626 --> 00:20:55.959 position:20%
That's when Taina Bien-Aime
came into my life,

00:20:56.959 --> 00:20:57.999
and showed me that
it wasn't normal.

00:20:59.083 --> 00:20:59.751
It wasn't okay.

00:21:00.083 --> 00:21:01.167
- I kept telling her,
if you can escape,

00:21:02.584 --> 00:21:03.626
there is a police
station down your block,

00:21:05.292 --> 00:21:06.417
or come to the office,
or come to my home.

00:21:09.999 --> 00:21:11.292 position:20%
It was an emotional tug-of-war
that she was going through.

00:21:13.334 --> 00:21:14.709 position:20%
How can I extricate
myself from this violence

00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:18.292 position:20%
without totally
divorcing from my family,

00:21:20.459 --> 00:21:21.876 position:20%
or without turning my
back on everything I know?

00:21:25.667 --> 00:21:26.083
(gentle music)

00:21:31.542 --> 00:21:32.292 position:20%
- It got to a point where,

00:21:32.459 --> 00:21:33.876
and it was so bad that, I
just was like, you know what?

00:21:36.417 --> 00:21:36.999
I have to leave.

00:21:38.999 --> 00:21:40.250 position:20%
- She called her father, and
told him that she had been

00:21:43.375 --> 00:21:44.584
in touch with women's
rights organizations.

00:21:47.042 --> 00:21:48.209
And I don't know whether
there was a fear there

00:21:50.876 --> 00:21:51.999
that they could be
reported, but he allowed her

00:21:56.999 --> 00:21:58.167
to leave the apartment
to live with his brother

00:21:59.999 --> 00:22:00.999
a few blocks away,
still in the Bronx.

00:22:09.042 --> 00:22:10.209
- It was like a sense of
relief when I found out

00:22:11.876 --> 00:22:12.959
that Jaha had left
that marriage.

00:22:14.584 --> 00:22:15.334
All she could think of was like

00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:16.667
how she could get
back into school.

00:22:19.709 --> 00:22:20.834
- I was living with
my aunt and uncle.

00:22:21.834 --> 00:22:22.959
My aunt didn't think I
needed to go to school,

00:22:25.375 --> 00:22:26.584
so she didn't help
me find school.

00:22:28.500 --> 00:22:29.626
I went around at least
10 different schools

00:22:30.626 --> 00:22:31.709
in the Bronx, and
they wouldn't take me

00:22:33.334 --> 00:22:34.459
because I didn't have
a guardian with me.

00:22:38.542 --> 00:22:39.667
Finally, I went to Taft,
and they enrolled me.

00:22:46.083 --> 00:22:47.250
(children singing
in foreign language)

00:22:52.375 --> 00:22:53.209
♪ Freedom and peace each day ♪

00:23:04.667 --> 00:23:05.417 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:23:18.918 --> 00:23:20.125 position:20%
- The root cause of FGM and
issues like child marriage

00:23:22.999 --> 00:23:23.999
is also because of
the lack of education.

00:23:27.751 --> 00:23:28.500 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:23:37.999 --> 00:23:39.000
- Jaha comes from
an ethnic group that

00:23:40.417 --> 00:23:41.542
does not believe in
girls' education.

00:23:42.999 --> 00:23:44.292 position:20%
The average age of
marriage is 14 years old.

00:23:49.292 --> 00:23:50.500
Just bucking that
tradition alone

00:23:50.751 --> 00:23:51.500
made her somewhat of a pariah.

00:23:55.876 --> 00:23:57.167 position:20%
- After my marriage ended,
people made my life hell.

00:23:59.125 --> 00:23:59.999
I didn't want them looking at me

00:24:00.709 --> 00:24:01.751
like I brought
shame on my family.

00:24:05.459 --> 00:24:06.500
My aunt, she'll be
talking to her friends,

00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:08.667
and they said, she's
this washed up girl

00:24:10.417 --> 00:24:11.876 position:20%
that has already had sex,
she's not a virgin anymore.

00:24:14.375 --> 00:24:14.999
No one wants her.

00:24:16.918 --> 00:24:17.975
And I would be in
the room, listening

00:24:17.999 --> 00:24:19.292 position:20%
to what they were
saying, and it killed me,

00:24:20.167 --> 00:24:21.292
because I was, you
know, it's not like

00:24:23.542 --> 00:24:24.292
they said it behind my back.

00:24:24.876 --> 00:24:25.459
I was right there.

00:24:27.083 --> 00:24:28.209
- At one point, Jaha
got so miserable that,

00:24:29.918 --> 00:24:30.667
instead of going home at night,

00:24:32.542 --> 00:24:33.667
she would sleep in the
subway 'til morning

00:24:34.999 --> 00:24:36.209
before she would get off
the subway and go to school.

00:24:40.918 --> 00:24:41.667
- I was fighting everything.

00:24:42.083 --> 00:24:42.999 position:20%
I was fighting to survive.

00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:44.667
I was fighting to
get an education.

00:24:45.918 --> 00:24:46.918
And most importantly,
I was fighting

00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:48.250 position:20%
to be who I wanted to be.

00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:52.959 position:20%
- When a human being suffers
severe trauma, like Jaha,

00:24:57.167 --> 00:24:57.999
and then being in an environment

00:24:58.542 --> 00:24:59.876 position:20%
where she was not supported,
she was in trouble.

00:25:04.876 --> 00:25:05.542
She was in deep trouble.

00:25:06.250 --> 00:25:06.918
(tense music)

00:25:19.959 --> 00:25:21.167
I received a call telling me
that Jaha was in the hospital.

00:25:23.167 --> 00:25:24.584 position:20%
She was at St. Vincent's, and
she had attempted suicide.

00:25:36.542 --> 00:25:37.709
- I had enough, and I
would have rather died

00:25:38.959 --> 00:25:39.999
than going back to what
they wanted me to be.

00:25:50.375 --> 00:25:50.999
Taina was there a lot.

00:25:52.500 --> 00:25:53.083
She brought me books.

00:25:54.125 --> 00:25:54.999
She made me believe in myself.

00:25:56.792 --> 00:25:57.999
She made me feel that my
life wasn't worthless.

00:26:02.083 --> 00:26:02.999 position:20%
When I left the hospital,

00:26:03.500 --> 00:26:04.918 position:20%
I realized that I needed
to get away from the Bronx.

00:26:09.999 --> 00:26:11.334 position:20%
- And that's when she told
me that I'm done fighting.

00:26:14.209 --> 00:26:15.626 position:20%
All she wanted at this
point was to just get out.

00:26:19.209 --> 00:26:20.626 position:20%
The only way that she
knew how, to just get out,

00:26:21.999 --> 00:26:23.250 position:20%
was to just let them arrange
a second marriage for her.

00:26:29.083 --> 00:26:30.334 position:20%
- I told my dad,
regardless of what happens,

00:26:31.667 --> 00:26:32.999 position:20%
I will stay in the
marriage, and he called me

00:26:35.709 --> 00:26:36.876
and told me that my
marriage was fixed,

00:26:37.792 --> 00:26:38.542
and then I'm moving to Atlanta.

00:26:40.083 --> 00:26:40.999
So, at 17, I ended up remarried.

00:26:49.999 --> 00:26:50.834
- I felt like it was rushed.

00:26:52.334 --> 00:26:53.751 position:20%
She was still pretty traumatized
from the first marriage.

00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:58.250
I didn't want her to go through

00:26:58.709 --> 00:26:59.459
with the second marriage at all.

00:27:01.167 --> 00:27:02.626 position:20%
But at that point, she just
wanted to leave New York,

00:27:03.959 --> 00:27:05.042
and everything that had
occurred in New York behind her.

00:27:18.834 --> 00:27:19.250
(cheerful music)

00:27:27.334 --> 00:27:27.999
- My husband, Hagie,

00:27:28.125 --> 00:27:29.250
he was more open than
the first marriage.

00:27:33.542 --> 00:27:34.292
He was more open to my ideas.

00:27:36.167 --> 00:27:37.584 position:20%
He wasn't in the business
of controlling me.

00:27:38.999 --> 00:27:39.959
Daddy's gonna go make you food.

00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:41.834
Come on, go with daddy.

00:27:42.209 --> 00:27:42.999
- [Hagie] Come on, now.

00:27:44.125 --> 00:27:44.959
- We started a family.

00:27:46.250 --> 00:27:47.417
First, I got pregnant
with my son, Mohammed.

00:27:50.250 --> 00:27:51.417
Then I got pregnant
again with Khadija.

00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:54.999
- Mommy
- Uh-huh.

00:27:55.042 --> 00:27:56.209
- [Khadija] I'm a
beautiful mermaid.

00:27:56.375 --> 00:27:57.500
- [Jaha] Yes, you
look beautiful.

00:27:57.667 --> 00:27:58.417
You look more than beautiful.

00:27:58.999 --> 00:27:59.751
- Hey you do this one.

00:27:59.999 --> 00:28:00.918
- Ah, you messed up my jack!

00:28:02.834 --> 00:28:03.083
- I did.

00:28:03.250 --> 00:28:04.334
- And then I had
my little boy, Abu.

00:28:05.999 --> 00:28:06.959
Abu!
(Abu squeals and laughs)

00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:09.834
Give it hear, mwah.

00:28:10.834 --> 00:28:11.584 position:20%
Okay, you go night night?

00:28:12.167 --> 00:28:12.999
After Khadija, I started working

00:28:14.042 --> 00:28:15.167
for Wells Fargo as
a part-time teller.

00:28:16.292 --> 00:28:17.375
You want to be like
Mommy when you grow up?

00:28:19.083 --> 00:28:19.584
Really?

00:28:19.918 --> 00:28:20.709
- Khadija.
- Yeah.

00:28:20.999 --> 00:28:21.959
- Are you behaving
- Yes.

00:28:21.999 --> 00:28:22.876
- while Mommy gets dressed up?

00:28:23.834 --> 00:28:24.584
I went to Atlanta to visit Jaha.

00:28:26.375 --> 00:28:27.417
Do you want to be
awesome like your mommy?

00:28:28.751 --> 00:28:29.876
She was able to
work at the bank,

00:28:29.999 --> 00:28:31.250 position:20%
being a wife, being a mom,
and she was great at it.

00:28:33.959 --> 00:28:34.709
I was like, seems like you did

00:28:34.959 --> 00:28:35.999
make the right
decision after all.

00:28:36.834 --> 00:28:37.459
♪ Da da da da da ♪

00:28:37.626 --> 00:28:38.417 position:20%
♪ Dada dada dada dada da ♪

00:28:46.042 --> 00:28:46.709
(applause)

00:28:50.542 --> 00:28:50.999
(gentle music)

00:28:57.918 --> 00:28:58.999
- I remember being
at work and talking

00:28:59.250 --> 00:29:00.709 position:20%
with some of my friends
about their relationships.

00:29:02.042 --> 00:29:03.083
You know, at that
point, then you realize,

00:29:03.999 --> 00:29:04.792
okay, am I missing something?

00:29:04.959 --> 00:29:05.999
Because the things
they are talking about

00:29:06.125 --> 00:29:07.250
is not the things that
you're experiencing.

00:29:09.751 --> 00:29:10.999 position:20%
I thought sex was just painful
with my first marriage,

00:29:13.918 --> 00:29:14.999
but then when I got
married the second time,

00:29:15.751 --> 00:29:16.334
it was the same story.

00:29:21.417 --> 00:29:22.834
Then I started talking to
other girls that are African,

00:29:24.709 --> 00:29:25.459 position:20%
that have been through FGM,

00:29:25.999 --> 00:29:27.083
and I realized that
they were all feeling

00:29:27.292 --> 00:29:28.334
the same thing
that I was feeling.

00:29:29.751 --> 00:29:30.918
So it just made me
want to research.

00:29:32.999 --> 00:29:33.626
Trying to find answers.

00:29:34.334 --> 00:29:35.334
Trying to understand
my own body.

00:29:37.751 --> 00:29:38.500
You know, how can I enjoy sex?

00:29:40.417 --> 00:29:41.000
How can I reverse this?

00:29:42.999 --> 00:29:44.042
Once I found out that
this was permanent,

00:29:46.125 --> 00:29:47.375
it just kind of made me,
something has to change.

00:30:27.334 --> 00:30:28.083
And I started contacting imams,

00:30:28.999 --> 00:30:29.999
and I asked them, is FGM
a religious obligation?

00:30:31.999 --> 00:30:33.000
And where in the
Quran is that lesson?

00:30:35.626 --> 00:30:36.876
And then they can't
answer that question.

00:30:37.999 --> 00:30:39.083
Islam has nothing
to do with FGM.

00:30:41.834 --> 00:30:43.083
It made me realize that I
needed to tell people the truth

00:30:44.584 --> 00:30:45.709
that this is not a
religious obligation.

00:30:46.709 --> 00:30:47.999 position:20%
It was just, people's selfish
need to control women.

00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:54.167
I came up with the idea
of me starting a blog.

00:30:55.584 --> 00:30:56.709
Just started talking
about my own experience.

00:30:58.918 --> 00:31:00.083
Eventually, that kind of
evolved to Safe Hands for Girls.

00:31:03.125 --> 00:31:03.959
Are you guys ready?

00:31:04.417 --> 00:31:04.999
- Go.
- Woo.

00:31:05.083 --> 00:31:06.375 position:20%
- A survival led
organization against FGM.

00:31:07.375 --> 00:31:08.417
I was able to get
other girls to join me.

00:31:09.709 --> 00:31:10.834
(group applauds)
Okay, come on in.

00:31:11.626 --> 00:31:12.751
Girls that have
been through FGM.

00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:14.667
We want to be the big
sisters in your life,

00:31:15.417 --> 00:31:16.876 position:20%
whatever questions that you
have, we are here for you.

00:31:19.751 --> 00:31:20.500 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:31:20.667 --> 00:31:22.167
Women that are here
in the United States
that have been cut,

00:31:23.459 --> 00:31:24.542
no one is trying to
answer their questions.

00:31:26.876 --> 00:31:27.626 position:20%
When they go to the doctor,

00:31:27.792 --> 00:31:28.959
they are looked at
like a freak show.

00:31:29.542 --> 00:31:30.626
This is somewhere
that you can come to,

00:31:30.999 --> 00:31:31.999
without being afraid,
without being ashamed.

00:31:33.375 --> 00:31:34.792 position:20%
Because I'm trying to
get us to break the cycle

00:31:36.334 --> 00:31:37.459
of abuse from the
past generation.

00:31:40.751 --> 00:31:41.209
(upbeat music)

00:31:55.042 --> 00:31:55.918
- Hi, a butterfly.

00:31:56.999 --> 00:31:57.792
- Do we see a butterfly?

00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:00.626
- I love butterflies.
- I'm gonna see him

00:32:01.999 --> 00:32:02.459
when I get home.

00:32:03.999 --> 00:32:04.792
- Me having a daughter was like,

00:32:04.959 --> 00:32:05.999
you can't say this can't
happen to my daughter,

00:32:06.999 --> 00:32:08.250 position:20%
and then watch other people's
daughters go through it.

00:32:10.584 --> 00:32:11.167
You guys can play.

00:32:11.334 --> 00:32:12.459
Me and Auntie Naima
can sit and chat.

00:32:14.292 --> 00:32:15.417
Naima was one of the
women who got involved

00:32:17.209 --> 00:32:17.999
in Safe Hands with me early on.

00:32:19.334 --> 00:32:19.999
Her name is hot.

00:32:20.999 --> 00:32:21.751
- [Naima] I know.

00:32:22.999 --> 00:32:23.999
- [Jaha] Come sit
next to Auntie Naima.

00:32:24.125 --> 00:32:25.209
- Come and sit
here for a second.

00:32:26.626 --> 00:32:27.792
I think so, her hair's
all flat in the back.

00:32:30.125 --> 00:32:30.999
I was born in Nairobi, Kenya.

00:32:31.667 --> 00:32:32.999 position:20%
FGM is something that's a
big part of our culture.

00:32:36.083 --> 00:32:36.918
It's a right of passage.

00:32:37.999 --> 00:32:38.999
For my mother,
that's a gift to me.

00:32:39.959 --> 00:32:41.125 position:20%
Something that would help
me get into womanhood.

00:32:43.709 --> 00:32:44.459
Let me know if it hurts, okay?

00:32:45.999 --> 00:32:47.125
It happens between the
ages of five and nine.

00:32:49.083 --> 00:32:50.250
For me, it happened
about nine years old.

00:32:52.834 --> 00:32:53.459
It's gonna be very fast.

00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:54.542
- Okay.

00:32:55.292 --> 00:32:56.459
- I actually looked
forward to it.

00:32:57.542 --> 00:32:58.959 position:20%
This is something that
happens to all the girls.

00:33:00.459 --> 00:33:01.209
You get gifts, there's a party.

00:33:06.042 --> 00:33:07.500 position:20%
On the day of my cutting, my
mother led me to the room.

00:33:11.876 --> 00:33:13.167 position:20%
All her friends and neighbors
were sitting there waiting.

00:33:16.042 --> 00:33:16.999
The cutter hadn't shown up yet.

00:33:19.999 --> 00:33:20.834
I volunteered to go get her,

00:33:22.999 --> 00:33:24.125
and I held her hand as
we walked up the hill.

00:33:26.834 --> 00:33:27.918
Little did I know, these
were the same hands

00:33:29.709 --> 00:33:30.459
that were going to violate me.

00:33:34.334 --> 00:33:35.751 position:20%
I was brought into the
room and told to sit down.

00:33:37.626 --> 00:33:38.792
I could feel the cold
cement underneath me.

00:33:41.584 --> 00:33:42.334
All the kids were out playing,

00:33:43.167 --> 00:33:43.999
and I could hear the chatter.

00:33:44.959 --> 00:33:45.999
(children speaking in
a foreign language)

00:33:47.667 --> 00:33:48.999
The cutter sat in front of
me, and picked up the razor.

00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:54.999
I started calling out for my
mom, and I started to struggle.

00:33:56.125 --> 00:33:57.250
And then at that point,
the other two women

00:33:57.667 --> 00:33:58.792
on either side of me
then held my legs down

00:34:01.209 --> 00:34:02.626 position:20%
and my shoulders back, where
I couldn't move at all.

00:34:05.083 --> 00:34:05.999
But I fought, I fought hard.

00:34:07.999 --> 00:34:08.959
I could feel the blade cutting,

00:34:13.209 --> 00:34:13.999 position:20%
and blood just gushing out,

00:34:16.042 --> 00:34:17.167
and just the pain,
I can't explain.

00:34:20.999 --> 00:34:21.626
(somber music)

00:34:32.125 --> 00:34:33.459 position:20%
After it happened,
everything was different.

00:34:34.792 --> 00:34:35.959
I was a pretty much
straight A student.

00:34:38.584 --> 00:34:39.167
That went downhill.

00:34:40.542 --> 00:34:41.125
- [Khadija] I'm hot.

00:34:41.500 --> 00:34:41.999
- You're hot?

00:34:42.083 --> 00:34:43.584
- Yeah, but she's trying to
take off her shirt also, no.

00:34:43.751 --> 00:34:44.999
- You can't take off your
shirt, though, you're a girl.

00:34:46.417 --> 00:34:46.999
Come around.

00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:48.083
It sucks, I know,
it's not a nice rule.

00:34:49.959 --> 00:34:50.999
- I'm gonna go
play with the dog.

00:34:52.918 --> 00:34:53.999
- I know for a
fact that there is

00:34:55.250 --> 00:34:56.000
longterm effects as far as PTSD,

00:34:58.167 --> 00:34:59.209
and also girls and
women being more docile.

00:35:01.834 --> 00:35:02.417
- [Jaha] You got it?

00:35:02.792 --> 00:35:03.918
- [Mohammed] All right,
let's count the steps.

00:35:04.999 --> 00:35:06.000
- When we first started
Safe Hands for Girls,

00:35:06.375 --> 00:35:07.792 position:20%
it was more to provide
support to FGM survivors.

00:35:09.542 --> 00:35:10.292
How many daughters do you have?

00:35:11.792 --> 00:35:12.209
- [Mother] Two.

00:35:12.375 --> 00:35:13.792 position:20%
- But then, I found out that
it was bigger than that.

00:35:15.083 --> 00:35:16.209
And what do you think
will happen to them

00:35:17.250 --> 00:35:18.334
if you do end up taking
them back to Gambia?

00:35:19.709 --> 00:35:20.834
- Same thing that
happened to me.

00:35:22.459 --> 00:35:23.209 position:20%
They gonna get mutilated.

00:35:24.542 --> 00:35:25.792
- There's also something
called vacation cutting,

00:35:26.042 --> 00:35:27.417 position:20%
where girls are sent to their
parents' home countries,

00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:29.975
and they go through the FGM,

00:35:29.999 --> 00:35:31.042
and then they come back
to the United States.

00:35:32.334 --> 00:35:33.792
Is that the reason why you've
been afraid to go back home.

00:35:35.834 --> 00:35:36.250
- [Mother] Yeah.

00:35:36.918 --> 00:35:37.999
- There's no reason
why children born

00:35:39.167 --> 00:35:40.292
here in the United
States should be

00:35:42.417 --> 00:35:43.167
at risk of something like FGM.

00:35:48.918 --> 00:35:49.959
- Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.

00:35:51.999 --> 00:35:53.000
Tonight is dedicated to
Safe Hands for Girls.

00:35:55.834 --> 00:35:56.417
(audience applauds)

00:35:57.751 --> 00:35:58.918
- The best thing that we
have is our own voices.

00:35:59.999 --> 00:36:00.999
I urge all of you
to not stay silent,

00:36:02.375 --> 00:36:03.500
'cause whether you've
been through FGM or not,

00:36:03.999 --> 00:36:05.500
you know someone in
our community that
has been through FGM.

00:36:07.209 --> 00:36:08.167
It is a moral
obligation for all of us

00:36:09.167 --> 00:36:10.292
to stand up and say,
enough is enough,

00:36:11.292 --> 00:36:11.999
and we have to end this.

00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:13.083
(audience applauds)

00:36:13.250 --> 00:36:14.417
- [Audience Member] Good
job, good job, good job.

00:36:16.876 --> 00:36:17.709
- Mother, I draw
breath from you.

00:36:21.542 --> 00:36:22.125
I have lived in you,

00:36:23.626 --> 00:36:24.375
loved for you, loved just you.

00:36:28.125 --> 00:36:28.959
But my love is that.

00:36:28.999 --> 00:36:30.334 position:20%
The first time I talked
about FGM, I felt exposed.

00:36:32.999 --> 00:36:34.375 position:20%
I felt vulnerable, like I
had just laid my soul bare.

00:36:39.375 --> 00:36:40.209
They took from me my humanhood.

00:36:41.876 --> 00:36:42.459
Promised me womanhood.

00:36:42.751 --> 00:36:43.792
Left me with no clitoral
hood, no clitoris.

00:36:46.375 --> 00:36:47.959
It's such a taboo back home to
talk about it, it felt weird.

00:36:50.792 --> 00:36:51.375
You have rearranged me.

00:36:52.751 --> 00:36:53.334
Barred my sexuality,

00:36:54.542 --> 00:36:55.125
shaved away these lips.

00:36:55.999 --> 00:36:56.626
Ground zero barren land.

00:36:57.083 --> 00:36:58.500 position:20%
It's something that happened
to me, and it's hard for

00:37:00.125 --> 00:37:01.292
me to talk about it, but
I think it's necessary.

00:37:03.792 --> 00:37:04.542 position:20%
I do not blame you for it.

00:37:05.751 --> 00:37:06.334
You never knew better.

00:37:07.792 --> 00:37:08.542 position:20%
It is up to us to speak up.

00:37:09.999 --> 00:37:10.626
Be someone's voice.

00:37:11.999 --> 00:37:12.792
Hold someone's hand.

00:37:12.999 --> 00:37:14.125
It is up to us to
end this practice.

00:37:15.876 --> 00:37:16.459
(audience applauds)

00:37:19.709 --> 00:37:20.125
(calm music)

00:37:31.999 --> 00:37:32.667
(children shouting)

00:37:36.999 --> 00:37:37.999
- Then I saw a news
article from the UK.

00:37:40.584 --> 00:37:41.334
They did this petition there,

00:37:42.292 --> 00:37:43.584
and as a result, the
Education Minister was writing

00:37:45.834 --> 00:37:47.042
to all the schools, to set up
guidelines to deal with FGM.

00:37:50.999 --> 00:37:51.792
I thought, what an amazing idea.

00:37:53.083 --> 00:37:54.167
And I was like, I can
do this in the US.

00:38:01.417 --> 00:38:02.167 position:20%
Abu, you kicked me again.

00:38:02.999 --> 00:38:04.042
Me and you gonna
have real problems.

00:38:07.918 --> 00:38:08.500
I went on change.org.

00:38:09.167 --> 00:38:09.999
I wrote a petition.

00:38:11.751 --> 00:38:12.834
I wanted the Obama
Administration

00:38:13.209 --> 00:38:14.626 position:20%
to conduct a study on
FGM in the United States.

00:38:17.083 --> 00:38:17.751
(upbeat music)

00:38:23.042 --> 00:38:23.999 position:20%
- Here Mommy, here Mommy.

00:38:25.042 --> 00:38:25.542
- Okay.

00:38:25.709 --> 00:38:26.459
I started Tweeting about it.

00:38:26.709 --> 00:38:27.999 position:20%
I started looking for
people to support the idea.

00:38:29.999 --> 00:38:30.667
- [Man] What's it?

00:38:31.209 --> 00:38:31.999 position:20%
- It's a survey about FGM.

00:38:33.042 --> 00:38:33.876
- [Man] What's FGM?

00:38:33.999 --> 00:38:34.792
- Female genital mutilation.

00:38:35.125 --> 00:38:35.792
- Oh, okay.

00:38:37.042 --> 00:38:37.999
- And then Equality Now decided

00:38:38.999 --> 00:38:39.999
to add their name
to the petition.

00:38:40.999 --> 00:38:41.918
The Guardian also came on board.

00:38:44.209 --> 00:38:44.999
- We as a paper have committed

00:38:45.876 --> 00:38:47.000 position:20%
to an international
campaign to eradicate FGM.

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:51.459 position:20%
- Slavery was a culture in
America for over 300 years,

00:38:52.999 --> 00:38:54.083
and if culture triggers
human rights violation,

00:38:55.667 --> 00:38:56.792
then that piece of
culture must go.

00:38:58.083 --> 00:38:58.999
Sign our petition on change.org,

00:38:59.999 --> 00:39:01.042
and help us end FGM
in the United States.

00:39:03.542 --> 00:39:04.292
When The Guardian came on board,

00:39:04.999 --> 00:39:05.918
the numbers started going up.

00:39:07.250 --> 00:39:08.000
We went from 10 signatures a day

00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:10.125
to thousands of
signatures a day.

00:39:10.751 --> 00:39:11.792
We just passed 83,000,
that's amazing.

00:39:14.209 --> 00:39:15.375
We started getting more
exposure with the media.

00:39:16.959 --> 00:39:17.999
That just helped us take
it to a whole new level.

00:39:23.709 --> 00:39:24.999
Over 200,000 people then
signed our change.org petition.

00:39:28.999 --> 00:39:30.042
People will think
your mom is right,

00:39:30.999 --> 00:39:31.876
and Obama needs to do something.

00:39:39.792 --> 00:39:40.792
- Female genital
mutilation is barbaric,

00:39:42.375 --> 00:39:43.125 position:20%
and should be eliminated.

00:39:46.042 --> 00:39:47.375 position:20%
- This shows that ordinary
people can believe

00:39:48.999 --> 00:39:50.167
in something and make a
difference, and make a change.

00:39:53.999 --> 00:39:54.626
All it takes is passion.

00:40:00.999 --> 00:40:01.876
I was still working at the bank.

00:40:03.542 --> 00:40:04.792
I decided to take
a leave of absence

00:40:06.834 --> 00:40:07.584
'til things cool down a bit.

00:40:10.334 --> 00:40:11.500
But things didn't cool
down, they escalated.

00:40:16.792 --> 00:40:17.375
(audience applauds)

00:40:23.626 --> 00:40:24.999 position:20%
when we say that we want
to end FGM in a generation,

00:40:26.417 --> 00:40:27.876 position:20%
we need to make sure that
we are actually doing that.

00:40:28.999 --> 00:40:30.292 position:20%
Foot binding actually took
10 years to end in China,

00:40:32.876 --> 00:40:33.999
but I believe if
we really push it,

00:40:34.083 --> 00:40:35.500 position:20%
we can end FGM in 10
years, just like they did

00:40:37.042 --> 00:40:38.209
with foot binding
in China, thank you.

00:40:39.667 --> 00:40:40.292
(audience applauds)

00:40:44.626 --> 00:40:45.999 position:20%
- And I hope that you
will continue to mobilize

00:40:47.876 --> 00:40:48.667
the public, the whole community.

00:40:48.999 --> 00:40:50.292 position:20%
- I hope you will
continue using your power

00:40:51.918 --> 00:40:52.999
to influence more world
leaders to take action.

00:40:55.417 --> 00:40:56.876 position:20%
- You can count on the
United Nations, thank you.

00:40:58.999 --> 00:40:59.999
- I'm gonna take a
selfie, if that's fine.

00:41:00.876 --> 00:41:01.959
- Okay, yes. (laughs)
(audience laughs)

00:41:02.500 --> 00:41:02.999
- Okay.

00:41:07.999 --> 00:41:08.584
- Hey. (laughs)

00:41:09.292 --> 00:41:09.959
Abu, okay.

00:41:09.999 --> 00:41:11.042
- You want to see my
eyes directly, huh?

00:41:12.999 --> 00:41:14.000 position:20%
Okay.
- Say bye, aw, thank you.

00:41:16.250 --> 00:41:17.000
- Okay, all the best to you.

00:41:17.584 --> 00:41:18.334 position:20%
- Thank you sir, thank you.

00:41:18.999 --> 00:41:19.626
- Yay! (laughs)

00:41:21.459 --> 00:41:22.500
Abu, you met Ban
Ki-moon, give me five.

00:41:26.209 --> 00:41:26.876
High five.

00:41:27.334 --> 00:41:27.999
(fast, cheerful music)

00:41:37.459 --> 00:41:38.584
The Girl Summit is the
international summit

00:41:39.459 --> 00:41:40.584
that focuses on forced
marriage and FGM.

00:41:43.375 --> 00:41:44.834
- How can we understand this
practice so that we can end it?

00:41:46.417 --> 00:41:47.876 position:20%
- We have to know how
they feel about the issue.

00:41:50.459 --> 00:41:51.584
I didn't go through
FGM out of hate.

00:41:52.250 --> 00:41:53.459
I didn't go through
FGM out of torture.

00:41:54.667 --> 00:41:55.834
You know, even with
my early marriage,

00:41:55.999 --> 00:41:57.083
I've never seen it
from a place of hate.

00:41:58.834 --> 00:41:59.584
It's just what their culture is.

00:42:00.334 --> 00:42:01.083 position:20%
It's just what they know.

00:42:01.542 --> 00:42:02.584
- Oh, it's quite
great of that you all

00:42:03.834 --> 00:42:04.584
out of Africa are doing here.

00:42:06.083 --> 00:42:07.209
But the change will
have to happen there.

00:42:08.125 --> 00:42:09.292
These people, they
will have to stop.

00:42:10.250 --> 00:42:11.709 position:20%
- My campaign has had a
lot of success in the US,

00:42:13.125 --> 00:42:14.167
and I've been
thinking about a way

00:42:15.209 --> 00:42:15.999
of doing something in Gambia,

00:42:16.125 --> 00:42:17.626 position:20%
because me advocating for
everyone else in the world

00:42:18.999 --> 00:42:20.250 position:20%
while it's still
happening in my own home.

00:42:22.876 --> 00:42:23.459
It doesn't make--

00:42:23.667 --> 00:42:24.250
- It doesn't make sense.

00:42:38.959 --> 00:42:39.209
- Ma.

00:42:39.584 --> 00:42:40.000
- Yes baby.

00:42:40.375 --> 00:42:40.999
(child babbling)

00:42:42.125 --> 00:42:43.209
I want to bring the work
that I am doing here

00:42:43.375 --> 00:42:44.876
in the US to The Gambia, and
organize a youth conference.

00:42:46.999 --> 00:42:48.167
I started reaching out
to people that I knew

00:42:49.918 --> 00:42:50.999
that were committed
in The Gambia.

00:42:52.999 --> 00:42:54.292 position:20%
- Having a youth conference
would be really great.

00:42:54.542 --> 00:42:55.709
Over the years,
most of the people

00:42:55.876 --> 00:42:57.000 position:20%
that have been campaigning
are older people.

00:42:58.083 --> 00:42:59.250
- If you can get a team
of organizers together.

00:43:02.626 --> 00:43:03.375
- [Sait ] If we have the money,

00:43:03.792 --> 00:43:04.542 position:20%
I think we can pull it off.

00:43:04.959 --> 00:43:05.999
- The Guardian and
The Girl Generation

00:43:06.792 --> 00:43:07.542
will be supporting this event.

00:43:07.918 --> 00:43:09.083 position:20%
Let me worry about that,
and I'll let you guys worry

00:43:10.959 --> 00:43:11.999
about what's going
on in the ground.

00:43:12.876 --> 00:43:13.626
We don't have a lot of time,

00:43:13.999 --> 00:43:15.042
but I really want
it to be a success.

00:43:17.083 --> 00:43:17.751
- [Sait] 100%.

00:43:17.999 --> 00:43:18.542
- [Abu] Uncle.

00:43:18.959 --> 00:43:19.375
- [Jaha] Uncle.

00:43:20.417 --> 00:43:21.000
- [Sait] That work.

00:43:21.542 --> 00:43:21.999
- Bye.

00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:24.250
- Organizing this conference,

00:43:24.999 --> 00:43:26.083
it brought young people
into the conversation.

00:43:28.999 --> 00:43:29.834
I know the sensitivity of FGM,

00:43:31.459 --> 00:43:32.542
but I think it's
very, very important

00:43:33.542 --> 00:43:34.876 position:20%
if the Gambian government
will just give us

00:43:36.042 --> 00:43:36.999
the opportunity to listen, and,

00:43:37.584 --> 00:43:38.999 position:20%
I have both my fingers and
toes crossed, so thank you.

00:43:40.999 --> 00:43:41.999
- Some people think the
word Gambian is bad.

00:43:43.918 --> 00:43:44.999
What I believe, I
believe my wife.

00:43:46.876 --> 00:43:47.459
I know is strong woman.

00:43:47.999 --> 00:43:49.167 position:20%
He heard my commit,
that's what I believe in.

00:43:50.083 --> 00:43:51.584
- Has the media also started
confirming their attendance?

00:43:53.999 --> 00:43:54.709
- [Woman on Phone] Yes.

00:43:54.876 --> 00:43:55.959
- You can give
Kumba the go ahead.

00:43:56.334 --> 00:43:57.417
She can print the
banners, they look good.

00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:59.417 position:20%
I'm needed more in The Gambia
than I'm needed in the US.

00:44:01.500 --> 00:44:02.959 position:20%
It's gonna take a lot of
commitment and dedication,

00:44:04.792 --> 00:44:05.542 position:20%
but I think we can do it.

00:44:12.334 --> 00:44:12.999
(upbeat African music)

00:44:30.959 --> 00:44:32.167 position:20%
I'm going over to my dad's
house before the conference

00:44:34.542 --> 00:44:35.667
to talk about why I'm
campaigning against FGM.

00:44:37.792 --> 00:44:39.000 position:20%
Telling everyone else they
shouldn't practice FGM,

00:44:40.334 --> 00:44:41.459
while I haven't had
that conversation

00:44:42.334 --> 00:44:43.500
with my family looks
a bit hypocritical.

00:44:52.584 --> 00:44:53.334 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:45:08.292 --> 00:45:09.209
Having this
conversation with my dad

00:45:09.999 --> 00:45:11.000
is part of having the
bigger conversation

00:45:12.375 --> 00:45:13.459
with the whole
Gambian community.

00:45:22.042 --> 00:45:22.709
(goat bleats)

00:45:25.417 --> 00:45:26.459
Today is the beginning
of Eid al-Adha,

00:45:28.500 --> 00:45:29.250 position:20%
the Festival of Sacrifice.

00:45:32.125 --> 00:45:32.999
My family will be celebrating,

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:36.417 position:20%
but I have to tell my
father about my campaign.

00:45:39.999 --> 00:45:40.876 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:45:42.999 --> 00:45:44.083
All the girls in my
family have been cut.

00:45:47.042 --> 00:45:48.209
It's something we've
never spoken about.

00:45:51.626 --> 00:45:52.375 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:46:47.083 --> 00:46:48.500 position:20%
I thought there was a lot
that I could tell him,

00:46:49.584 --> 00:46:50.667
but, you know, he's
a religious man,

00:46:51.083 --> 00:46:52.167
and I just couldn't
sit there and tell him,

00:46:52.876 --> 00:46:53.999
what you're saying
is not the truth,

00:46:54.667 --> 00:46:55.792
because it would
have angered him.

00:47:00.999 --> 00:47:02.083
It's important to keep
the conversation going,

00:47:03.167 --> 00:47:04.292
because my dad has
a lot of daughters,

00:47:04.999 --> 00:47:06.000
and they have a lot
of daughters as well.

00:47:08.209 --> 00:47:09.709
If my dad changes his mind,
a lot of girls can be saved.

00:47:25.999 --> 00:47:26.500
(frenetic music)

00:47:30.792 --> 00:47:31.542
- I'll go to say hi to everyone.

00:47:36.584 --> 00:47:37.876 position:20%
Having the first
national youth conference

00:47:39.083 --> 00:47:39.999 position:20%
to end FGM in The Gambia.

00:47:41.500 --> 00:47:41.999
Hi, Nyanda.

00:47:42.209 --> 00:47:43.626 position:20%
It's like the coolest thing
I think I've ever done.

00:47:45.751 --> 00:47:46.500 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:47:48.542 --> 00:47:49.709
For you to be able to go
abroad, learn something,

00:47:50.876 --> 00:47:52.125
and then take that, and bring
it back to your home country,

00:47:53.083 --> 00:47:54.542
and help your own people,
that's how things should be.

00:47:56.209 --> 00:47:57.167
Hi, Amaru?
- Yeah, how are you?

00:47:57.999 --> 00:47:58.584
- [Jaha] Good.

00:47:59.375 --> 00:48:00.792 position:20%
- He wanted to have an exclusive
interview with you too.

00:48:01.459 --> 00:48:02.834 position:20%
- Well, today's the
opening of the conference.

00:48:02.999 --> 00:48:04.375 position:20%
If he could come here, so
he sees the atmosphere,

00:48:05.999 --> 00:48:07.000
sees what this whole
thing is about,

00:48:08.999 --> 00:48:09.999
I think it'll be
good for the story.

00:48:11.999 --> 00:48:12.584
- Programs.

00:48:12.792 --> 00:48:13.375
- We'll go get them

00:48:13.709 --> 00:48:14.292
- T-shirt for me, small.

00:48:16.792 --> 00:48:17.542 position:20%
- You guys are okay, right?

00:48:18.918 --> 00:48:19.334
Ready to go?

00:48:20.500 --> 00:48:21.667
We invited veteran
activists from all

00:48:24.500 --> 00:48:25.250
the organizations in The Gambia,

00:48:25.667 --> 00:48:26.999 position:20%
prominent people from the UN,
people from the government.

00:48:31.999 --> 00:48:33.042
We are working with the
American government.

00:48:33.459 --> 00:48:34.500
Now I want to work
with my own government.

00:48:35.834 --> 00:48:36.250
- Inshallah.

00:48:36.417 --> 00:48:37.167 position:20%
- So I'm glad you're here.

00:48:37.709 --> 00:48:38.459 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:48:39.667 --> 00:48:40.709
And this has never
happened in The Gambia.

00:48:40.999 --> 00:48:42.209 position:20%
They've never came together
to work on one goal.

00:48:46.500 --> 00:48:47.083
Those are my kids.

00:48:47.250 --> 00:48:48.000
They came to see the opening.

00:48:48.459 --> 00:48:49.918 position:20%
That's my son, and that's
my daughter right there.

00:48:52.375 --> 00:48:53.459
- [Woman] They
seem well behaved.

00:48:54.334 --> 00:48:54.999
- Well, they try to be.

00:48:56.959 --> 00:48:58.167 position:20%
Mohammed, you guys need
to stay with Daddy, okay?

00:49:10.209 --> 00:49:11.334
When I first started
talking about FGM,

00:49:13.417 --> 00:49:14.000
for one, I was afraid.

00:49:14.167 --> 00:49:15.292
I'm a Serahule,
and I didn't know

00:49:16.459 --> 00:49:17.209 position:20%
what my family would think.

00:49:17.667 --> 00:49:18.751
I didn't know what
the outcome would be,

00:49:20.250 --> 00:49:21.375
but I was lucky
to have a husband

00:49:23.292 --> 00:49:24.375
that understands
how passionate I am

00:49:24.999 --> 00:49:25.999
about these issues.
(audience applauds)

00:49:27.999 --> 00:49:29.209 position:20%
And I'm very, very pleased
that the Gambian government

00:49:31.999 --> 00:49:32.876
is here, 'cause I think that

00:49:33.375 --> 00:49:34.500
in order for us
to achieve change,

00:49:35.542 --> 00:49:36.626
we need you guys
to help us do that.

00:49:38.375 --> 00:49:39.125
We need to empower our girls,

00:49:39.999 --> 00:49:40.999
and we need to make
sure that no girl child

00:49:42.292 --> 00:49:43.417
is at risk of FGM
in this country.

00:49:44.542 --> 00:49:45.125
(audience applauds)

00:49:48.999 --> 00:49:50.250 position:20%
- Female genital mutilation
makes it much more likely

00:49:52.209 --> 00:49:52.999
for you to have complications.

00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:55.167
If you just look at
maternal mortality,

00:49:56.626 --> 00:49:57.999
and you find out what high
numbers we have in The Gambia.

00:50:00.167 --> 00:50:01.584
Time, and time, and time
again, we have people dying.

00:50:03.459 --> 00:50:04.959 position:20%
It is all due to ignorance,
and what you guys are doing

00:50:06.999 --> 00:50:08.250
is the beginning of the
fight against that ignorance.

00:50:11.999 --> 00:50:13.042
Let's go on to the
next slide, please.

00:50:14.042 --> 00:50:14.918
- Oh.
(audience gasps)

00:50:16.667 --> 00:50:17.417 position:20%
- This is a real picture.

00:50:17.999 --> 00:50:18.999
I saw this lady
myself in my clinic.

00:50:20.876 --> 00:50:21.918
This girl was
about 26 years old.

00:50:22.709 --> 00:50:23.999 position:20%
Married for about two, three
years, didn't have a child,

00:50:26.292 --> 00:50:27.417
and was convinced by
the relatives that

00:50:28.999 --> 00:50:29.999
the reason you are
not having a child

00:50:30.959 --> 00:50:31.709
is because you were not cut.

00:50:32.999 --> 00:50:34.459
So they went to this old
lady, who used a razor blade.

00:50:37.999 --> 00:50:39.334
Under no form of anesthesia,
they removed, as you can see,

00:50:42.834 --> 00:50:43.999
the clitoris, and part
of the labia minora.

00:50:48.999 --> 00:50:50.417 position:20%
This lady knew nothing about
anatomy, she just cut down.

00:50:52.999 --> 00:50:54.334 position:20%
And when she cut down,
she also cut the urethra,

00:50:56.500 --> 00:50:57.626
which is the opening
that passes the urine.

00:50:58.959 --> 00:51:00.167 position:20%
She will be having lots
of infections in her life,

00:51:02.167 --> 00:51:03.292
that may destroy
happiness finally,

00:51:03.999 --> 00:51:05.292 position:20%
and this girl's sexual life
has been totally destroyed.

00:51:13.959 --> 00:51:15.083
- Now it is our time to
defend the right of our women.

00:51:18.250 --> 00:51:18.918
- That's right.

00:51:19.083 --> 00:51:20.250
- I for one, I will
take that vow here,

00:51:21.626 --> 00:51:22.999 position:20%
nobody will ever take my
daughter for this atrocity.

00:51:25.999 --> 00:51:26.417
(audience claps)

00:51:27.999 --> 00:51:29.000
- I am critical that we
always use euphemism.

00:51:30.999 --> 00:51:31.999
We can't continue
to tell people that

00:51:43.667 --> 00:51:44.292
It's been mutilated.

00:51:44.999 --> 00:51:45.999
We don't have to be
ashamed of our body.

00:51:47.375 --> 00:51:48.459
Clitoris (speaking
foreign language) vagina

00:51:51.042 --> 00:51:51.999 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:51:53.292 --> 00:51:53.999
(audience applauds)

00:52:02.083 --> 00:52:03.167
- What motivated you
to start this campaign.

00:52:04.584 --> 00:52:05.751
- To me, it's something
that needed to be done,

00:52:06.918 --> 00:52:07.999
because even in the
US, it's like a taboo.

00:52:09.375 --> 00:52:10.542
No one was willing to
talk about it openly.

00:52:11.667 --> 00:52:12.999 position:20%
- Do you think there are
sufficient political weight

00:52:14.209 --> 00:52:14.999
on the part of the government?

00:52:15.626 --> 00:52:16.709
- We are here to hold
them accountable,

00:52:16.999 --> 00:52:18.125
but we want to work in
partnership with them.

00:52:19.792 --> 00:52:21.000 position:20%
If they don't help us, we
can't achieve what we want.

00:52:22.999 --> 00:52:24.167 position:20%
- You know, the real
movers, the real changers

00:52:26.042 --> 00:52:26.999
of public opinion are the imams.

00:52:27.626 --> 00:52:28.751
And even the imam of the
president, Imam Fatty,

00:52:29.542 --> 00:52:30.292 position:20%
he said, FGM, it's Islamic.

00:52:33.999 --> 00:52:34.999
- I've heard Imam
Fatty's claims.

00:52:36.334 --> 00:52:37.417
He's an elder,
and I respect him,

00:52:37.999 --> 00:52:39.334 position:20%
but I went through FGM, and
I know how it affects me.

00:52:41.709 --> 00:52:42.459
And if he needs me to sit down

00:52:42.999 --> 00:52:44.083
and talk to him about
that, I'm open to that.

00:52:45.209 --> 00:52:46.709
- [Interviewer] What would be
the pinnacle of achievement?

00:52:47.999 --> 00:52:49.417 position:20%
- If we can get an national
ban on FGM in The Gambia,

00:52:51.626 --> 00:52:52.751
that would, you know,
that would be it.

00:52:54.792 --> 00:52:55.417
- Thank you so much.

00:52:55.751 --> 00:52:56.209
- Thank you.

00:52:56.709 --> 00:52:57.000
- Yeah.

00:52:57.167 --> 00:52:58.667 position:20%
- Ladies and gentlemen, I
assure you of government's

00:53:00.167 --> 00:53:01.209
commitment in providing
technical support

00:53:03.334 --> 00:53:04.334
for the implementation
of the outcome

00:53:05.334 --> 00:53:06.417
and recommendations
of this meeting.

00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:09.459 position:20%
- For me, it was important
to have the government,

00:53:10.918 --> 00:53:12.042
in front of international
media, in front of local media.

00:53:14.709 --> 00:53:15.999 position:20%
Will you guys help promote for
a national ban against FGM?

00:53:19.042 --> 00:53:20.375 position:20%
If we make this a priority,
we can actually end

00:53:22.417 --> 00:53:23.167 position:20%
FGM in less than 10 years.

00:53:24.626 --> 00:53:25.792
- If we have data coming
from the country to say,

00:53:27.125 --> 00:53:28.125
this is the magnitude
of the problem

00:53:29.250 --> 00:53:30.334
that our women
are going through,

00:53:31.375 --> 00:53:32.542
obviously we will do
something about it.

00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:35.500 position:20%
- Now we have something to
hold them accountable for.

00:53:38.417 --> 00:53:39.459
The government has
raised the argument that

00:53:40.375 --> 00:53:41.125
there's not a lot of research,

00:53:41.999 --> 00:53:42.999
but we have the
information out there.

00:53:45.167 --> 00:53:45.975
I've been through FGM.

00:53:45.999 --> 00:53:47.292 position:20%
That wasn't circumcision,
that wasn't cutting.

00:53:48.626 --> 00:53:49.709
That was female
genital mutilation.

00:53:50.792 --> 00:53:51.542 position:20%
- I am one, and I am one.

00:53:53.250 --> 00:53:54.042
- [Audience Members] I am one.

00:53:55.375 --> 00:53:56.542
- When you see that
over 2/3 of the women

00:53:59.459 --> 00:54:00.584
in this country have
been through FGM,

00:54:02.417 --> 00:54:03.542
it's not just some bunch
of scientific numbers.

00:54:05.375 --> 00:54:06.792
You can see them, you can
feel them, you can hear them.

00:54:10.250 --> 00:54:11.667 position:20%
- Your last message to
the people of The Gambia?

00:54:12.250 --> 00:54:13.709 position:20%
- I hope they welcome this,
and I hope they understand

00:54:15.667 --> 00:54:16.626
that I'm not
abandoning my culture.

00:54:17.999 --> 00:54:18.584
I'm a proud Gambian.

00:54:18.751 --> 00:54:19.999
I love my culture, but it's
just this part of our culture.

00:54:22.542 --> 00:54:23.292 position:20%
It's wrong, it's not right.

00:54:24.542 --> 00:54:24.999
(dramatic music)

00:54:36.375 --> 00:54:37.375
When it comes to
changing people's minds,

00:54:38.834 --> 00:54:39.584
it's going to be extremely hard,

00:54:43.292 --> 00:54:44.375
but we need to have
a huge campaign

00:54:45.918 --> 00:54:46.999
and travel to every
single village,

00:54:49.999 --> 00:54:51.083
and actually have
these conversations.

00:55:03.125 --> 00:55:04.500 position:20%
I'm going to see the midwife
that cut me as a baby.

00:55:07.751 --> 00:55:08.500
She and her sisters carried out

00:55:09.209 --> 00:55:10.250
all the mutilations
in our family.

00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:12.083
And she was good friends
with my mom as well.

00:55:19.999 --> 00:55:20.792 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:55:23.209 --> 00:55:23.999
My mom loved this lady.

00:55:25.125 --> 00:55:25.999
I grew up loving this woman.

00:55:27.209 --> 00:55:27.999
She is like a second mom to us.

00:55:31.959 --> 00:55:33.167 position:20%
Making her understand how
much pain FGM has caused me

00:55:35.375 --> 00:55:36.459
might make her rethink
and stop cutting.

00:57:39.334 --> 00:57:39.999
- She thinks it's funny.

00:57:46.250 --> 00:57:47.000
As much as I wanted to be angry,

00:57:47.999 --> 00:57:49.000
and as much as I
wanted to blame her,

00:57:50.792 --> 00:57:51.999 position:20%
she's as much of a victim
as any one of us is.

00:57:56.999 --> 00:57:58.417
It was passed on to her, and
she passed on to her daughter,

00:58:00.042 --> 00:58:01.167
and now her daughter's
passing it on to her

00:58:01.959 --> 00:58:03.042 position:20%
17 or 18-year-old
daughter, who's also going

00:58:05.542 --> 00:58:06.667
to carry this on if
they are not educated.

00:58:09.834 --> 00:58:10.584 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

00:58:12.959 --> 00:58:13.999
Coming out of that
room, it just showed me

00:58:14.999 --> 00:58:16.000
what the challenge
is in The Gambia.

00:58:21.584 --> 00:58:22.334
I was naive about everything,

00:58:23.999 --> 00:58:24.876
and being here, I just woke up.

00:58:25.751 --> 00:58:27.000 position:20%
Like I had to wake up, and
face all of these things.

00:58:33.667 --> 00:58:34.083
Okay, bye ma.

00:58:41.959 --> 00:58:42.999
It's just been a
big roller coaster

00:58:44.751 --> 00:58:45.834
of different emotions
since I got here.

00:58:48.542 --> 00:58:49.959 position:20%
At times, it's like I
want to stay and do more,

00:58:51.542 --> 00:58:52.667
and at times, it's
just, I want to get

00:58:53.042 --> 00:58:54.209
the hell out of here
and never come back.

00:58:56.999 --> 00:58:57.542
(somber music)

00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:30.083
What did you guys
eat at daycare today?

00:59:31.083 --> 00:59:31.999
- [Mohammed] I ate a sandwich.

00:59:33.209 --> 00:59:33.999
- You had a sandwich?

00:59:34.999 --> 00:59:35.584
- [Mohammed] Yeah, and--

00:59:37.999 --> 00:59:39.000
- Sometimes I forget
that I'm a mom,

00:59:40.999 --> 00:59:42.042
and I have kids, and
they should come first.

00:59:44.918 --> 00:59:46.083
But I'm also getting heavy
in debt to run this campaign.

00:59:49.999 --> 00:59:50.792
- You make a sandwich tomorrow?

00:59:51.918 --> 00:59:52.500
- Sandwich tomorrow.

00:59:53.667 --> 00:59:54.999
- Like when I think about
Wells Fargo, and my job there.

00:59:57.999 --> 00:59:59.375 position:20%
If I was at the bank, I would
be running my own branch.

01:00:02.459 --> 01:00:03.584
There is good pay,
and it has benefits.

01:00:06.375 --> 01:00:07.834 position:20%
My children don't have those
benefits anymore. (sighs)

01:00:18.542 --> 01:00:19.709
- [Khadija] Mommy, I go
to the movies tomorrow?

01:00:21.999 --> 01:00:22.542
- I don't know.

01:00:23.125 --> 01:00:23.999
If we end FGM, it's worth it.

01:00:25.959 --> 01:00:26.709
If we don't, then I don't know.

01:00:43.999 --> 01:00:44.959 position:20%
Let me talk to Uncle Sait.

01:00:45.083 --> 01:00:46.417 position:20%
I was looking at the newspapers
today, and I saw that

01:00:48.292 --> 01:00:49.792 position:20%
in Bakoteh over a hundred
girls were circumcised,

01:00:51.792 --> 01:00:52.918
and I saw the quotes
from Imam Fatty.

01:00:53.584 --> 01:00:54.792
I mean, it's just
really, really sad

01:00:55.125 --> 01:00:56.292
that we just did this
conference, and now you

01:00:58.999 --> 01:00:59.999
have these girls being
cut, and then Imam Fatty

01:01:02.209 --> 01:01:02.999
coming out and supporting it.

01:01:03.999 --> 01:01:05.000
- [Sait] I think what
happened there was

01:01:05.167 --> 01:01:06.292
as a response to what
we have been doing.

01:01:06.999 --> 01:01:07.999
- Imam Fatty is the
most influential

01:01:09.999 --> 01:01:10.751
religious person in The Gambia.

01:01:11.999 --> 01:01:12.959
I've lost hope, to be honest.

01:01:13.667 --> 01:01:14.792
I really thought,
we can do this,

01:01:15.292 --> 01:01:16.042 position:20%
but right now I don't know.

01:01:16.792 --> 01:01:17.918
- Jaha, come on, right
now you're not here,

01:01:18.334 --> 01:01:19.667
but we have started a
campaign that we cannot stop.

01:01:22.999 --> 01:01:24.209
The conference has given me
this energy to face Imam Fatty.

01:01:26.999 --> 01:01:28.000
- I do want to meet
him, don't get me wrong,

01:01:29.292 --> 01:01:30.417
but I know his history
with other campaigners,

01:01:32.083 --> 01:01:32.999
how he has publicly shamed them.

01:01:33.751 --> 01:01:34.999
You know, Imam Fatty is not
an enemy that we want to have.

01:01:37.209 --> 01:01:37.975
- But the point is this,

01:01:37.999 --> 01:01:38.999
see, everybody
listen to Imam Fatty,

01:01:39.125 --> 01:01:40.292
but nobody wants to
challenge Imam Fatty.

01:01:41.209 --> 01:01:42.334
We meet him and then
ask him real questions.

01:01:43.999 --> 01:01:45.042
We might get something
convincing from him.

01:01:55.999 --> 01:01:56.709
(drums resonating)

01:02:04.125 --> 01:02:05.459
- When I got there, the
campaign was really taking off,

01:02:07.292 --> 01:02:07.999
and it lifted my spirit.

01:02:09.042 --> 01:02:09.999 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:02:21.999 --> 01:02:22.999
A number of foundation
gave us money

01:02:23.292 --> 01:02:24.709 position:20%
to set up information
booths around the country

01:02:25.751 --> 01:02:26.876
to inform people about
the effects of FGM.

01:02:29.626 --> 01:02:30.792
- Your mother, or your
aunts, or your sister

01:02:31.792 --> 01:02:32.999 position:20%
that have been mutilated,
and have children,

01:02:33.500 --> 01:02:34.918 position:20%
you hear them saying that they
have any type of problems?

01:02:38.000 --> 01:02:38.834
- You disagree with it?

01:02:39.250 --> 01:02:39.751
- Yes.

01:02:39.918 --> 01:02:40.999
- So know the health
effects of FGM?

01:02:41.250 --> 01:02:41.999
And you don't want it

01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:42.999
to continue?
- Let's go.

01:02:43.999 --> 01:02:44.834
- We had amazing volunteers.

01:02:46.167 --> 01:02:46.999
- So we can go to there.

01:02:47.959 --> 01:02:48.999
- [Jaha] For the first
time, we got people

01:02:49.459 --> 01:02:50.999 position:20%
talking about FGM, in the
streets, in their houses.

01:02:55.959 --> 01:02:56.999
- Why are you saying
we should stop it?

01:02:57.083 --> 01:02:58.250
- In Mecca, female
genital mutilation

01:02:58.876 --> 01:02:59.459
is not practiced at all.

01:03:00.584 --> 01:03:01.667
So if FGM was that
important to Muslims,

01:03:02.876 --> 01:03:04.083
why isn't it practiced in the
Muslim capital of the world?

01:03:05.999 --> 01:03:06.959
In Saudi, FGM is not practiced.

01:03:07.999 --> 01:03:08.959
In Yemen, FGM is not practiced.

01:03:10.959 --> 01:03:11.999
- No, that one is
a new thing to me.

01:03:12.999 --> 01:03:14.000
- Okay, if FGM is not
prescribed by Islam,

01:03:15.250 --> 01:03:16.667 position:20%
even Allah didn't think about
putting that in the Quran,

01:03:18.584 --> 01:03:19.751
My brother, I think
it is not necessary.

01:03:20.667 --> 01:03:21.751
I think we don't
need to put our kids

01:03:22.542 --> 01:03:23.125
through that much pain.

01:03:24.000 --> 01:03:25.125
- It's like I'm somehow
about to be convinced.

01:03:26.999 --> 01:03:27.999
- I'm having one, maybe
I can save that one.

01:03:29.999 --> 01:03:30.751
- Please, I would love that.

01:03:31.918 --> 01:03:32.667
One thing that keeps coming up,

01:03:33.542 --> 01:03:34.584
more than anything
else, is Islam and FGM.

01:03:36.584 --> 01:03:37.167
All right, thank you.

01:03:37.334 --> 01:03:38.751 position:20%
We need influential religious
leaders to make that clear

01:03:40.667 --> 01:03:41.999 position:20%
to people that this is not
a religious obligation.

01:03:53.999 --> 01:03:55.042
We are on our way
to meet Imam Fatty,

01:03:57.876 --> 01:03:58.999 position:20%
and he's the most influential
imam in the country.

01:04:01.459 --> 01:04:02.209 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:04:03.918 --> 01:04:04.959
He's always on TV,
radio, and print media.

01:04:09.334 --> 01:04:10.083 position:20%
And he uses those platforms

01:04:10.999 --> 01:04:11.792
to spread his pro FGM messages.

01:04:17.999 --> 01:04:19.083
He was the State House
Imam to the President.

01:04:20.417 --> 01:04:21.876 position:20%
He's also a member of the
Supreme Islamic Council.

01:04:25.375 --> 01:04:26.125 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:04:31.792 --> 01:04:32.542
I know how critical he has been

01:04:32.709 --> 01:04:33.834
of other campaigns
in the country.

01:04:35.042 --> 01:04:36.209
I am very nervous
about meeting him.

01:04:37.709 --> 01:04:38.292
I'm very anxious.

01:04:47.375 --> 01:04:48.542
- I hear about you
and your campaign.

01:04:52.626 --> 01:04:53.709
You are fighting
female circumcision,

01:04:55.999 --> 01:04:56.792
and say that it's not Islamic.

01:04:57.999 --> 01:04:59.334
No one who fear Allah says
circumcision is not Islamic.

01:05:05.542 --> 01:05:05.999
It's Islamic.

01:05:07.667 --> 01:05:08.417
Our mothers, our grandmothers,

01:05:09.999 --> 01:05:10.999
they are practicing
this practice.

01:05:13.125 --> 01:05:14.292
You cannot point your
finger a single girl,

01:05:16.584 --> 01:05:17.334
in The Gambia, that she was die

01:05:18.999 --> 01:05:19.999
because she went through
female circumcision.

01:05:23.709 --> 01:05:24.125
Have you it?

01:05:24.959 --> 01:05:25.375
- I have.

01:05:25.542 --> 01:05:26.999 position:20%
When I was about eight years
old, my dad has four wives,

01:05:29.000 --> 01:05:30.500 position:20%
and one of my stepmom, her
daughter went through FGM,

01:05:35.500 --> 01:05:36.334
and then she later bled a lot,

01:05:36.751 --> 01:05:37.876
and as a result
of that, she died.

01:05:38.959 --> 01:05:39.975
She was my baby
sister, and she was

01:05:39.999 --> 01:05:41.375 position:20%
my stepmom's first child,
and that's not a lie.

01:05:42.999 --> 01:05:44.042
You can go to my dad's
house and talk to her.

01:05:46.876 --> 01:05:48.000
Hurting people, torturing
people, it's not right in Islam.

01:05:50.667 --> 01:05:51.792
I am confident in
what I'm doing.

01:05:51.999 --> 01:05:53.375 position:20%
I'm not doing this because
I'm getting paid to do it.

01:05:54.792 --> 01:05:55.999
I'm not doing it because
someone's telling me to do it.

01:05:57.667 --> 01:05:58.999 position:20%
It's just when I got
married as a 15-year-old,

01:06:00.876 --> 01:06:01.626
and when I delivered my kids,

01:06:01.999 --> 01:06:02.999
because of the scar
tissue that I have

01:06:03.542 --> 01:06:04.667
and the pain that
I went through,

01:06:04.876 --> 01:06:06.000 position:20%
I decided for myself
that I wanted to do this.

01:06:09.542 --> 01:06:10.959 position:20%
And, you know, when my dad,
he's still not convinced

01:06:13.375 --> 01:06:14.417
that what I'm doing
is good, but--

01:06:15.792 --> 01:06:16.918
- Well your father
is a popular man

01:06:18.042 --> 01:06:18.999 position:20%
in the Serahule community.

01:06:20.375 --> 01:06:21.542
So when you are now
leading the campaign

01:06:24.542 --> 01:06:25.918 position:20%
against all of that, your father
will never agree with you.

01:06:30.334 --> 01:06:31.083
He will prefer to lose you than

01:06:32.375 --> 01:06:33.792 position:20%
to lose his faith, his
Islam, and his community.

01:06:37.751 --> 01:06:38.834
- I'm not perfect,
and no one is perfect.

01:06:40.626 --> 01:06:41.751
We all make mistakes,
and I'm new at this.

01:06:42.999 --> 01:06:43.999
I'm going to sometimes
get it right.

01:06:45.417 --> 01:06:46.500
Sometimes I'm not
going to get it right.

01:06:47.417 --> 01:06:48.417
And it's very important
for me to learn

01:06:49.584 --> 01:06:50.999 position:20%
from people like you, because
you are very influential,

01:06:53.167 --> 01:06:53.999 position:20%
and you're very credible.

01:06:54.999 --> 01:06:55.792
You know your religion.

01:06:56.417 --> 01:06:57.876 position:20%
- We must educate people
about female circumcision.

01:07:00.751 --> 01:07:01.500
Do it is better than not do it.

01:07:05.334 --> 01:07:06.083
- [Jaha] Most people believe

01:07:06.250 --> 01:07:07.209
that it's a
religious obligation.

01:07:09.584 --> 01:07:10.709
- We say it clearly, if
you will do it, do it.

01:07:13.500 --> 01:07:14.250
If you don't, lift it, but--

01:07:15.999 --> 01:07:16.751
- [Jaha] No Fatty.

01:07:16.918 --> 01:07:17.667
- Okay, it's not compulsory.

01:07:18.334 --> 01:07:19.417
- I like that you
said that, and I think

01:07:20.459 --> 01:07:21.626
if we can make that
clear to our people,

01:07:23.500 --> 01:07:24.500
that it's not something
that compulsory.

01:07:25.250 --> 01:07:26.000 position:20%
- [Fatty] That's clear her.

01:07:26.167 --> 01:07:26.999 position:20%
- [Jaha] Is a choice right?

01:07:27.083 --> 01:07:28.125
- It's a choice.
- It will be a choice.

01:07:28.292 --> 01:07:28.999
- It's your choice.

01:07:30.292 --> 01:07:30.999
So we agree on that.

01:07:34.083 --> 01:07:35.250
- Especially to say--
- For someone like him

01:07:35.417 --> 01:07:36.876
to say that it's choice, I
think will make a difference

01:07:37.667 --> 01:07:38.999 position:20%
to people that think
that this this is a must.

01:07:39.918 --> 01:07:40.500
You get what I'm saying?

01:07:40.667 --> 01:07:41.417 position:20%
- That's definitely true.

01:07:41.584 --> 01:07:42.999 position:20%
- So we can use that as
an angle of our campaign.

01:07:44.584 --> 01:07:45.709
I don't have to agree
with everything he said,

01:07:46.250 --> 01:07:47.375
but in life you have
to know your strategy.

01:07:52.209 --> 01:07:52.999
- Jaha is a visionary activist.

01:07:55.292 --> 01:07:56.417
She keeps lighting
matches, hoping that

01:07:59.834 --> 01:08:00.918
somewhere, someplace,
a fire will start.

01:08:03.292 --> 01:08:04.459
- When I first started
working in The Gambia,

01:08:06.042 --> 01:08:07.125
my main objective was
to get FGM banned.

01:08:09.459 --> 01:08:10.209 position:20%
We've been working on that,

01:08:10.999 --> 01:08:11.999
doing a lot of lobbying,
writing letters,

01:08:13.751 --> 01:08:14.500
lobbying government officials,

01:08:14.999 --> 01:08:16.000
lobbying the president,
lobbying the first lady.

01:08:17.999 --> 01:08:18.792
It's the first step.

01:08:19.042 --> 01:08:20.167
It's not the end of
this conversation.

01:08:20.999 --> 01:08:22.125
It's not going to
end FGM overnight.

01:08:23.167 --> 01:08:24.667 position:20%
- But we need not descend
into the political aisle,

01:08:25.876 --> 01:08:26.999
but we have to be
politically savvy.

01:08:27.999 --> 01:08:29.167 position:20%
- Exactly, we have a really,
really good relationship

01:08:30.459 --> 01:08:31.209
with the minister of Health.

01:08:31.500 --> 01:08:32.542
I'm honored and
privileged to be here.

01:08:33.999 --> 01:08:34.542
Thank you guys.

01:08:34.751 --> 01:08:35.334
- Pleasure to meet you.

01:08:35.500 --> 01:08:36.792 position:20%
- I want to try to find--
- So, we agree.

01:08:37.584 --> 01:08:38.876 position:20%
- Since we started
campaigning in the country,

01:08:40.000 --> 01:08:40.834
everything we have done,

01:08:40.999 --> 01:08:42.167 position:20%
we've had some type of
government involvement in.

01:08:43.792 --> 01:08:44.999 position:20%
- There's a national
standing committee on FGM.

01:08:46.999 --> 01:08:48.000
And it has been headed
at the Women's Bureau.

01:08:50.375 --> 01:08:51.417
You know we have a
national plan of action.

01:08:51.999 --> 01:08:53.042
- The government is
doing more, I think.

01:08:54.709 --> 01:08:55.751
That's a direct
result of what we did

01:08:56.500 --> 01:08:57.584
at the first National
Youth Conference.

01:08:59.125 --> 01:08:59.959
Minister, thank you.

01:08:59.999 --> 01:09:00.999
- I'll see you,
probably next month.

01:09:01.250 --> 01:09:01.918
- Oh, okay.

01:09:02.999 --> 01:09:04.250 position:20%
- Jaha's mission is
really to get the culture

01:09:06.667 --> 01:09:07.417
to come to her point of view.

01:09:10.417 --> 01:09:11.792 position:20%
She has begun making inroads
at every single level,

01:09:16.792 --> 01:09:17.999
from the grassroots
to the highest levels

01:09:18.999 --> 01:09:19.999
of religious and
political authority.

01:09:23.584 --> 01:09:24.834
Nothing will stop
her from reaching

01:09:26.999 --> 01:09:27.751
her goal to end FGM, nothing.

01:09:43.834 --> 01:09:44.959
- We are going over
to my dad's house.

01:09:47.125 --> 01:09:48.250
His youngest wife
just had a baby.

01:09:49.500 --> 01:09:50.959 position:20%
I want to talk my dad out
of mutilating his daughter.

01:09:52.918 --> 01:09:53.667
To not mutilate baby Khadija,

01:09:54.999 --> 01:09:56.083
it's going to be very,
very important to me.

01:09:56.999 --> 01:09:58.292
She was born when I'm here
doing a campaign against FGM.

01:10:00.751 --> 01:10:01.999 position:20%
If I was to leave this
country today, and find out

01:10:02.709 --> 01:10:03.999 position:20%
in few days that she ended
up getting mutilated,

01:10:05.500 --> 01:10:06.250
it's going to break my heart.

01:10:07.959 --> 01:10:09.125
If I can't prevent my own
sister from going through FGM,

01:10:12.209 --> 01:10:13.209
as an activist
against this practice,

01:10:14.542 --> 01:10:15.709
then what I'm doing is
not really effective.

01:10:18.999 --> 01:10:19.500
(slow music)

01:10:33.999 --> 01:10:34.792
- Khadija, Khadija.

01:10:37.626 --> 01:10:38.417 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:10:43.542 --> 01:10:44.167
Hi baby, hi baby.

01:10:47.542 --> 01:10:48.334 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:11:12.751 --> 01:11:13.000
No.

01:11:13.542 --> 01:11:14.292 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:12:28.667 --> 01:12:29.709
I have so much
respect for my dad.

01:12:30.959 --> 01:12:31.999
I never want to
tell him something

01:12:32.292 --> 01:12:33.417
that I think is
going to hurt him.

01:12:36.209 --> 01:12:37.626 position:20%
But in this case, I didn't
care what he thought.

01:12:38.999 --> 01:12:40.250 position:20%
I just think it's important
for me to tell him

01:12:40.542 --> 01:12:41.959 position:20%
why this girl needs to stay
the way she was created.

01:12:56.375 --> 01:12:57.125
I'm sitting here talking to him.

01:12:57.667 --> 01:12:58.417 position:20%
My dad is not even arguing

01:12:58.959 --> 01:12:59.999
some of the things he
argued a few months ago.

01:13:02.999 --> 01:13:04.209
As a result of my campaign,
he's actually spent some time

01:13:05.751 --> 01:13:06.918
to research FGM and how
harmful it is to women.

01:13:11.999 --> 01:13:13.042
It's huge for him to
actually accept that,

01:13:14.876 --> 01:13:15.459
and for him to say that.

01:13:18.999 --> 01:13:19.834
I'm going to be the first baby

01:13:20.459 --> 01:13:21.542
in my family to
not go through FGM.

01:13:25.999 --> 01:13:27.000
My dad agreed not
to cut baby Khadija.

01:13:30.999 --> 01:13:31.751
I am still yet to process it,

01:13:32.918 --> 01:13:34.042 position:20%
because I don't even
know how to take this in.

01:13:36.542 --> 01:13:37.292 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:13:41.042 --> 01:13:41.709
No, seriously.

01:13:42.918 --> 01:13:43.334
You sure?

01:13:43.918 --> 01:13:44.999
High five, okay,
bye bye, good night.

01:13:46.999 --> 01:13:47.667
(triumphant music)

01:13:49.999 --> 01:13:50.709
(children clapping)

01:13:57.999 --> 01:13:58.542
(upbeat music)

01:14:11.999 --> 01:14:12.959 position:20%
(speaking foreign language)

01:14:49.167 --> 01:14:50.250
- I think Jaha is a
young woman of destiny.

01:14:51.959 --> 01:14:52.999
There aren't that
many people like Jaha

01:14:55.751 --> 01:14:56.834
who can surmount
all of the obstacles

01:15:00.500 --> 01:15:01.626
within the context
of her culture.

01:15:14.959 --> 01:15:16.167
- Three days after I met with
most of his cabinet members,

01:15:20.083 --> 01:15:21.292
I received a call that
the president was about

01:15:22.459 --> 01:15:23.417
to make a big
announcement about FGM.

01:15:32.626 --> 01:15:33.792
- For 21 years, I've
been reciting to see

01:15:34.417 --> 01:15:35.834
where it is stated in the
Quran that this should happen.

01:15:37.999 --> 01:15:38.751
I've not seen it.

01:15:40.292 --> 01:15:41.417
As from today, FGM is
banned as from today

01:15:44.918 --> 01:15:45.751
from the surface
of this country.

01:15:55.167 --> 01:15:56.250
- The president of
the country of Gambia

01:15:56.999 --> 01:15:57.918
has just declared a ban on FGM.

01:15:58.209 --> 01:15:59.334
- I want Gambia to
know how proud I am,

01:16:00.999 --> 01:16:02.042
and how happy I am
that this happened.

01:16:05.209 --> 01:16:06.375
And today, I wanted to
thank His Excellency,

01:16:07.667 --> 01:16:08.999 position:20%
on behalf of all the girl
children of The Gambia.

01:16:12.209 --> 01:16:13.584
He told me that what his
daughter will not go through,

01:16:15.209 --> 01:16:16.334
he won't see another
girl child go through.

01:16:17.999 --> 01:16:18.876
And to me, that says everything.

01:16:20.167 --> 01:16:21.250
This is going to change
lives in The Gambia.

01:16:21.999 --> 01:16:22.999
It's going to save a lot
of young girl children.

01:16:25.999 --> 01:16:27.375 position:20%
Knowing that I played a role
in that was just amazing.

01:16:32.000 --> 01:16:33.500 position:20%
- Jaha's campaign together
with Safe Hands for Girls

01:16:35.999 --> 01:16:37.000
is very important
because if the president

01:16:38.334 --> 01:16:39.083
is now denouncing the practice,

01:16:39.250 --> 01:16:40.626 position:20%
it's because young people
have taken the lead.

01:16:42.042 --> 01:16:43.459
- So think this is not the
end of our work as activists.

01:16:45.042 --> 01:16:46.167
We want to go into
the communities,

01:16:47.542 --> 01:16:48.709
and make sure the
people are aware.

01:16:49.500 --> 01:16:50.959 position:20%
The president has done his
part, now it's up to us.

01:16:57.209 --> 01:16:58.250
- What Jaha's
already accomplished

01:16:58.999 --> 01:17:00.334
at the tender age of 25 is
nothing short of extraordinary.

01:17:03.334 --> 01:17:04.792 position:20%
It is extraordinary, and it's
nothing short of a miracle.

01:17:13.876 --> 01:17:14.459
- Banning FGM is huge.

01:17:16.292 --> 01:17:17.459
Now, at least, girls
like my Khadija

01:17:19.334 --> 01:17:20.459
in The Gambia will have
a chance against FGM.

01:17:24.667 --> 01:17:25.999
But we need to maintain a
active campaign on the ground.

01:17:33.250 --> 01:17:34.375
The problem is, a
lot of times we find

01:17:35.083 --> 01:17:36.542
that countries ban FGM, but
they don't implement the law.

01:17:39.999 --> 01:17:40.959
We need to build
on the momentum,

01:17:41.500 --> 01:17:42.834 position:20%
to make sure that the government
actually implements it.

01:17:46.999 --> 01:17:47.959 position:20%
This is just the beginning.

01:17:48.167 --> 01:17:49.584
It's not over yet, until
all the girls are protected.

01:17:54.500 --> 01:17:54.999
(Khadija laughs)

01:18:07.500 --> 01:18:07.999
(upbeat music)

01:19:25.751 --> 01:19:26.334
This is our Africa.

01:19:28.209 --> 01:19:28.999
We're doing it for ourselves.

01:19:29.125 --> 01:19:30.709
We're doing it for
our daughters, our
sisters, our mothers.

01:19:31.999 --> 01:19:32.999
That what we are
doing, and it's simple.

01:19:55.834 --> 01:19:56.250
(mellow music)

01:20:28.626 --> 01:20:29.042
(upbeat music)

Main content

Jaha's Promise

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